Family turns to community for help after fire rips through trailer

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. – Wes Maxwell is trying to help his family get back on their feet after a fire tore through a trailer that was home to his brother.

His mom had a major stroke before Christmas and is in the hospital still unable to speak.

Wes’ brother has lived on the same farm as their mom. He says both trailers were on the same land and located halfway between Fort St. John and Dawson Creek near Farmington. Wes had come to help out with things while his mom recovers in the hospital.

In a gofundme page description of the accident, he says they smelt something funny while spending some time together.

“We were in his place watching a movie when we noticed a funny smell, like something burning. So we looked at the wood stove and we had a chimney fire. I ran out to my work vehicle to grab a fire extinguisher and he grabbed the axe to chop the roof open. We fought the fire for a while and thought we got it.”

He had called 911 but they explained that because they weren’t in the fire district, no fire response would be sent. Police did eventually come to the property.

When explaining what happened via phone to Energeticcity.ca, he says he told his brother to grab some of the sentimental items that were in the trailer.

“I told him to grab a couple of his more sentimental things and then we went over to moms trailer which is on the same property about 500, 600 yards away.”

He says they then went to bed for the night and when they woke up, they found his trailer engulfed in flames.

“We got up at about 4:30, 5 o’clock and saw something light around his house and the whole thing was engulfed in flames. I guess the lucky thing is we decided to leave the house and that there was another place on the property to go to.”

Wes decided to set up a gofundme page to help get his brother back on his feet and also address other issues in his moms trailer, as hers has repairs needed as hers is in disrepair and needs work done. As of this afternoon, almost $2,500 has been raised.

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